Once again, this week’s episode of The Flash (and, hey, have you signed up for VIP membership so you can experience our exclusive Flashback podcast? I’ll wait!) deals with doppelgängers and alternate Earths, with at least one shocking twist to be had. For my money, the idea of multiple Earths has always been a fascinating one, as some of my favorite books (Mark Grunewald’s ‘Squadron Supreme’, the All-Star Squadron and more) are explicitly set somewhere in the infinite earths that isn’t the mainstream reality of the time. There’s something freeing about the idea of a world where everything you know is wrong, and while the tendency to devastate those worlds because they “don’t count” is troubling, there are still a number of worlds that I might want to visit or even make my new home, leading us to today’s parallel query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, ‘misquoted”) kind of likes the idea of living in the world of Top 10, where everybody has super-powers, even the schmucks and goobers, asking: Which of the myriad infinite earths would you be most happy to call your own?
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Modern comic worlds are usually terribly bleak and dangerous or just about to be destroyed. Isn’t there one where everyone are happy cartoon animals? I choose that one.
Any world where things like spider bites, lightning strikes and chemical spills give you super powers instead of horrible, painful death is OK with me. :D
The setting of Sword Art Online, the near future Earth where you can full dive into Virtual Reality games and not the virtual worlds themselves (although they are why I want to live there). In a sense, I get the best of both worlds. I am still on Earth and won’t have to leave my loved ones behind, but I can also visit the many worlds of the various VRMMO games available. There are plenty more VRMMO worlds than those featured in the series, so I’m sure there is a superhero VRMMO or a Star Wars-esque VRMMO that I could lose myself in.
If I have to choose a comic book world, I think I would be happiest in the future world of “Batman Beyond”. I have the dual benefit of living in a version of the DCU and living in a world where genetic splicing to give myself attributes of animals is possible. Nevermind the fact it is illegal, I’ll find a way around that. Surprisingly, I don’t want it for superpowers but to heal myself.
Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Dracula_series
In this universe, Dracula succeeded against Van Helsing and his group, and vampirism spread throughout the world. It is not only socially accepted, but is actually becoming the norm. This series included not only characters from Stoker’s novel (which in this world was an unauthorized biography…and a political statement), but actual historical figures (Queen Victoria, Manfred Von Richtofen (the Red Baron)), and COUNTLESS nods to other fictional characters (Mycroft Holmes, Dr Jekyll, “James” Bond).
Each book in the series very cleverly plays on different eras in history:
Anno Dracula is set in the 1800’s, where Jack the Ripper (here called “Silver Knife”) is killing vampire prostitutes.
The Bloody Red Baron is set during World War 1, where the Red Baron is actually a monstrous bat-like creature.
Dracula Cha-Cha-Cha is set during the 50’s, and deals with espionage and spies (including one named Bond).